Survive the Swarm
by INQ8448
Summary: A short story I wrote for a Sci-Fi Fantasy contest last year. The story was in 3rd place. Survive the Swarm is loosely based off of a game call Alien Swarm.


Survive the Swarm

Memory Log of Sergeant J. Oden

Date – August 12, 4816

Beginning log…

Turbulence buffeted the drop ship as it coasted not so gracefully through the low atmosphere. Static crackled over the mic in my helmet as the pilot spoke.

"Okay, here's your stop, gents," he grunted as the drop ship touched down. "Happy hunting out there." I rose to my feet, gripping my treasured plasma cannon close to my chest, feeling the reassurance it gave me. I glanced over at my squad mates as they readied themselves for the imminent danger that awaited us.

"Suits, check. Weapons, check. Radio-link, check. Massive amount of dangerous explosives, check. We're ready, sir." I nodded.

"Prepare to disembark," I ordered. I held my hand up in a fist, waiting for the hatch to slide open. When it eventually did, I jerked my hand forward in a slashing motion.

"Go, go, go!" I barked. I jumped from the drop ship, my team followed, landing in diamond formation on the landing pad. Silence. I had a sneaking suspicion that I could hear crickets in the background.

"Oh, that's nice!" Argus groaned sarcastically, resting his rifle on his shoulder and taking a casual stance. "Get us all pumped oop about how we're bein' dropped in the middle of a bloody battle and what 'ave we got here?! A bunch of blithering nothing!"

"Give it a rest, hot shot," snapped my second in command, Vincent. "You'll get your fair share of Bugs to de-brain." Argus muttered something inaudible and shifted his grip on his customized plasma carbine.

"What now, sir?" Cormacod asked. Cormacod, being the heavy weapons expert, was carrying a heavy machine gun, anchored to his shoulder. I was still wondering how he could heft that huge piece of weaponry with so little effort. If we ever got through this, I'd ask him.

"Vincent, right flank. Cormacod, you take point. Hot Shot, you take the rear. Got it?" I ordered. Argus grunted. We moved at a slow trot down the corridor. Static crackled in our mics.

"We're…some…..life forms…..vicinity…..caution," Command said. I looked at the rest of my team.

"We'll have company soon," I mused. We continued walking down the corridor until we came to a doorway blocked by an erratic stack of boxes. I gestured Cormacod forward. He nodded, stepping right up to the boxes. Flexing his massive shoulders, he grunted as he bashed and hammered away at the flimsy aluminum. Within seconds, the doorway was cleared.

"Wasn't expecting that," I said, surprised. Cormacod shrugged, took point. We trundled carefully forward down the corridor until we came to a door guarded by security panels.

"Argus?" I said. Nodding, he shouldered his carbine and moved to one of the panels. With a rapid series of taps, he gained access to the security net.

"'Af way there, guys," he reported. "The colonists most uv hardwired the sentry guns to attack anything. Ah have to deactivate them."

"Go," I replied. We waited tensely while Argus navigated his way through the encryption. Eventually, the turrets slumped in their sockets.

"Done," he grunted finally. He quickly cocked his carbine and trained it on the door, took a step forward causing the door to slide aside. Lights flickered in the room ahead.

"Dammit!" Argus swore. "More blithering nothing!" I sighed.

"Get a grip hot shot, we aren't even in the facility yet," Vincent said. I motioned us to move forward. I shifted my gaze left and right, waiting for something to happen. As we moved forward, Argus balked.

"Ah've got moovment!" he cried. I looked to the upper right-hand corner of my Heads Up Display. Four green dots were pulsating on the map with solitary red dot moving rapidly towards us. I switched out my plasma cannon for a Nemesis-class shotgun.

"Lamps," I commanded. Our helmet lamps cut through the dim light to illuminate a small life form no bigger than my foot. It was defiantly not human.

"SHIT!" Vincent bellowed, firing rapidly at the small creature. Before any of us could react, the creature exploded in a cloud of gore.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Argus cried, reeling away from the settling cloud. "What was tha' for?!"

"What? It wasn't obvious?!" Vincent roared, now chest-plate to chest-plate with a still reeling Argus. "That was a parasite, you idiot!" Argus wilted slightly under Vincent's loud barrage.

"Calm down, Vincent," I ordered harshly. "Apparently, some of us haven't read the rulebook." Argus was still tense from the harsh reprimand.

"Keep moving," I said gruffly, moving forward. "Diamond formation." We kept a steady pace as we moved from room to room, carefully looking for signs of life, always looking around corners for ambushes. I glanced at my HUD, looking for reassurance that we were alone. No such luck. A half-dozen flashing dots were strafing across a doorway ahead of us. I raised my fist, signaling a halt. I turned to Argus.

"Ready to blow something up?" I asked, gruffly. I could imagine his huge grin.

He growled, took a few steps forward, and unhooked a plasma grenade from his bandolier. I motioned the squad forward a few more paces as silently as I could. I could hear rapid scuttling further ahead as we passed through a door. Abruptly, the scuttling ceased. We froze. Then they came.

"Sah, there's a lot cooming," Argus whispered. I nodded slowly and placed an incendiary mine.

"Vincent, place plasma mine," I ordered quietly. Nodding, he placed the mine near the doorway, out of sight of the gathering Swarm.

"Argus, put up your sentry over there," I ordered gesturing to the right side of the door. After setting up the Aegis-class turret in record time, Argus gave me the thumbs up. I nodded and turned to face the approaching Swarm. We waited with baited breath as the scuttling resumed, this time with a sense of frantic anticipation in gutting us. I held my fist up, waiting for the last possible moment to launch the grenade into the heart of the swarm.

_1…2…3…4…5…_ "Fire in the hole!" I bellowed, launching the grenade into the swirling horde of bug bodies. I nodded with grim satisfaction as shrieks of pain and agony reached my ears. Note to self: These bugs can't stand fire.

"Open fire!" I commanded as the first of the horde rampaged through the door. The sentry chirped to life and spat fire into the unprotected faces of the bug horde. With a dull roar, Cormacod joined the sentry in the act of spitting at an incredibly high rate. I switched to my plasma cannon and unleashed fiery hell upon the swarm roaring in unison with Cormacod. Eventually, the horde of bugs petered out into a haphazard dribble until the attack completely ceased. We stood in silence for a few seconds waiting tensely to see if more would come. I jumped when I heard a resounding thud echo through the corridor.

"Sah, we got ah big un cooming," he murmured. The thuds got louder until they were right on top of the door, then that suddenly went silent. I felt sweat run down the center of my back even with the bio-stabilizer unit installed in my bulky hazard suit. I let out a breath of relief I didn't know I was holding. Then the wall collapsed.

"MEDIC!" cried Argus before he was dragged through the rift in the wall.

"Let's go!" I bellowed, jumping through the rift after Argus. We hauled ass as best we could after the huge behemoth that held a screaming Argus in its clawed hands.

"MEDIC! MEDIC! MEDIC!" he kept screaming at the top of his lungs. I winced as his voice was enhanced to a shrill shriek as it passed through our comm-link net.

"Shut the hell up, private!" I bellowed, but to no avail. I froze as I heard a resounding crack, then static.

"ARGUS!" I roared. More static. I stopped running. "Argus, come in!"

"Sir, he's gone," Vincent said grimly. I clumped to the ground and held my head in my gauntleted hands in shame. Vincent walked over and placed his hand on my shoulder.

"He was a good kid," he murmured. I shook my head, tears running down my cheeks. I was relieved my helmet was concealing them from Vincent and Cormacod. I had been devastated when I heard the crack that snuffed out Argus. He'd been just a teenager when he was drafted to my squad six years ago. I'd taken him in fully when I discovered his aptitude for mechanics. I sat there for a few minutes, numb with shock. I soon stood and hefted my plasma cannon.

"We're going to go get what we came for and dish out some hell to those bastards," I growled, turning to face Vincent and Cormacod. "Any objections?" Vincent stood there silently. Cormacod shook his head. I looked down the dark corridor, prepared to face whatever came at me.

"For Argus!" I bellowed, charging down the corridor into the arms of hell. I heard Cormacod and Vincent take up the call, thundering after me. I heard scuttling farther ahead. Cocking my plasma cannon, I grinned in anticipation. When the three of us collided with the approaching Swarm, all hell broke loose. I roared as fire surged from my weapon, burning everything in its path. I glanced to the side to see Cormacod unleashing hundreds of bullets that chewed through the roiling mass of bugs.

"Vincent, status?" I bellowed through the helmet mike.

"Fine!" he grunted. I risked a glance and saw he was right. Vincent was unleashing grenade after grenade into the Swarm, sending tiny bits of carapace and gore in all directions with each explosion.

"I'm gonna go try and retrieve the colonies' data" Vincent yelled, as he pulled back behind Cormacod.

"Go ahead," I barked. "We'll cover you!"

"Gotta reload!" Cormacod bawled. I sighed, looking the vast amount of Swarm heading towards one target: me. I cocked my plasma cannon and barreled into their midst. The only reaction I could perceive them having was that of eager bestiality. I tried one thing that would either save my life, or deplete my ammo really fast. I went for it. I closed my eyes and with a resounding bellow, whirled in a circle with my cannon pointing away from me while I systematically clicked the trigger, pouring out plasma damage in all directions. I stopped when I heard silence. I turned woozily to face Cormacod and Vincent. I could probably imagine what kind of expressions they wore.

"Did you get the data?" I asked. Vincent nodded.

"Yes sir," he murmured. I nodded.

"Ok now, let's go get Argus' armor tally and get the hell out of here," I ordered. Vincent and Cormacod nodded. Tossing away the plasma cannon, I pulled out my Nemesis shotgun and gestured forward.

"Let's go." We moved farther down the corridor, tensely waiting for more of the Swarm to appear. I glanced at the small schematic of the colony in my HUD. I was looking for a blue A which was Argus' armor tally.

"Sir, I've got it," Cormacod rumbled.

"Where?" I asked.

"Right in the center of a Swarm nest."

"Dammit! Alright, I'm going to go in and get it then throw it to you." I started walking toward the nest.

"But sir!" Vincent called. "You'll die!" I shrugged.

"Then I guess I deserve it," I murmured, shutting my helmet mic off. I walked briskly past row after row of eggs until I got to the armor tally. I cautiously picked it up and turned to Cormacod and Vincent.

"Here!" I called, hurling the tally to them along with my own. "Now go!" Vincent nodded silently and turned to go. I watched silently as they ran off into the distance. I turned back to the nest and roared in defiance. The Swarm was alerted. They came. I was ready. I stood there, a vigilant statue in the fading light, waiting for death with open arms…

End of memory log.


End file.
